People latch onto particular players for all sorts of odd reasons, developing long, intense, one-way relationships with them. Maybe you attended the one match where an otherwise poor player achieved momentary competence or perhaps they were the first player you saw responding to ‘give us a wave’.

So thank you Anamul Haque. Your work is now perhaps done. You have drawn to our attention Mominul Haque; we have noticed that he has scored two hundreds and two fifties in his first nine Test innings; and we have consequently, probably, inadvertently adopted him.

Mominul is currently averaging 83.42 and will probably never average that much again. These two hundreds against New Zealand will probably come to be seen as aberrative; an odd and freakish flash of early form which committed us to years of imagining that every innings of 22 not out could have become 222 not out if only it hadn’t rained for four days.

In 2015, Bangladesh will finally drop him after a long run of low scores. The very next match will be a high-scoring draw and we’ll be livid because if Mominul had played, he would have recaptured form and confidence and gone on a run-scoring spree the like of which has never been seen before.

Why couldn’t they have held on for one more Test? Why couldn’t they have given Mominul Haque one more innings? Some people can’t see greatness even when it’s right in front of their eyes.

Did you know that Nasir Hossain (the Bangladeshi “allrounder”) is only 21 years old and averages 45 with the bat in both tests and ODIs? And also that Mominul is only 22? Shakib, Mushfiqur, and Tamim Iqbal are the “old men” of the Bangladesh team and they’re 26, 25, and 24, respectively. So maybe when these guys actually mature Bangladesh might have a respectable team. Or maybe they’ll drop all of them once they turn 28, and start the cycle all over again.

saffer “zipgate”: deliberate, really? i’m not suggesting they are all (ahem) whiter than white or anything – i mean, we all said that about hansie “what would jesus do” cronje, and look how that turned out – but why risk being caught cheating in a match you are practically incapable of losing? with high-def tv cameras absolutely guaranteed to pick it up and show it again and again in glorious slo-mo… just can’t get my head round that one :-S